Strategy for a winning career

THE LIFE of a marketing professional can be a whirlwind of excitement. It is an interesting field of specialisation that involves constant travel, innumerable telephone calls and an unending round of wining and dining. A competitive field with definitive functional areas, marketing is not just about successful selling. It is one of the five functional areas in management and encompasses the various dimensions of marketing a product or service. Marketing professionals form the vital link between the organisation (either governmental or private) and the customers.

Do you have it in you?

Excellent verbal, written and presentation skills are a must to find the best openings in the field of marketing. The ability to be innovative, and an earnest desire to be a constant learner, an extrovert personality with an ability to build instant rapport with people, sensitivity to changing market trends and an ability to gauge consumer reaction are key traits to succeed in marketing. Knowledge of current social, political and economic happenings is important to achieve a greater competency level suitable to the business environment of a country.

The aspiring marketer also needs to develop good business acumen, a penchant to arrive at instantaneous decisions, self-confidence and an ability to make accurate judgments. Marketing can literally be a dream profession for the aspirant who loves adventure and travel.

Getting the right education

A high school student (10+2/ Intermediate) has the choice of opting either for a bachelor or a master's course in management. There are no prior specific subject requirements to choose a specialisation in marketing and graduates in any discipline can take up a course in management. Most Indian universities and colleges offer bachelors and masters programme in business management. Marketing occurs as a specialisation course in the final year of the course. Admission into postgraduate study programmes in management (MBA) is through a common entrance examination that is specific to each state and sometimes, to each institution. Admission into premier institutions like the IIMs is through the Common Aptitude Test (CAT). A recent addition to the courses offered in IITs (Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur and Kharagpur) and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore is the postgraduate degree programmes in management. Admission to the programmes is through the Joint Management Entrance Test or JMET organised by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur.

Special training is necessary to give that professional edge to your marketing skills. Various business schools in the country impart training courses for those intending to specialise in marketing. The National Institute of Sales (NIS) and The Apex Institute of Professional Development in Delhi, and the Bushan Lokhandwale's Sales Training Classes (conducted in Mumbai, Aurangabad and Nasik) are some well-known institutions offering sales education.

Marketing involves intensive research of consumer reaction to a product, analysis and interpretation of these results; devising strategies to market the product, test marketing and sales forecasting.

Marketing can be broadly classified into:

Consumer goods and services marketing

Consumer goods are those products that can be bought off the shelf. Marketing for these products involves planning for strategic positioning, selling and delivery of goods and services at competitive prices to the consumer.

Industrial marketing

Technical or speciality selling is the exclusive forte of those with a technical background and usually those with an engineering, pharmaceutical or computer science specialisation are preferred. Decisions are taken by technical and financial experts, for, to affect a sale, extended sessions of negotiations and after sales service are involved.

International marketing

The earnest marketing trainee, to specialise in this field needs to be conversant with the cultural, social, economic and political conditions of other countries. Functional knowledge of the relevant foreign languages is also important to get by. The result of globalisation, international marketing promises rewarding career prospects and is becoming a vital addendum to most organisations.

Telemarketing

A recent trend that is fast catching on, telemarketing is all about marketing the product over the telephone. Incentives are offered to such professionals on meeting the pre-planned target. Telemarketing proffers good growth prospects, and full and part time employment is possible within the job profile.

Web marketing

Marketing through the Internet has enlivened the competitive scenario in the Indian market further. E-commerce has enabled services previously unimaginable, for, B2C and B2B are proving to be tools that power even mighty businesses into high gear. Customer service and support, advertising on the net and starting an online business venture are some of the opportunities open to specialists in java and e-commerce.

Market research

Market research as a specialisation is rapidly gaining an identity of it's own. Market research can be applied to almost any thing from a consumer product to rating a service, a television programme and even elections. A market researcher will initially begin as a research executive and can progress to the posts of an associate project director, research director and a research services director. Market research is essentially concerned with quantitative and qualitative research. To succeed in market research, you need to be a sort of a mathe-magician and a probable statistician, with an MBA degree. A certification in communication or psychology is useful for qualitative research.

Technology has revolutionised the way marketing is done and so has the liberalisation policy. Specialists in marketing find lucrative openings in various private, governmental and multinational companies including banks. This training also provides them the opportunity of branching into general management positions at a higher hierarchical order. Dynamism and industriousness at the opportune time and place are therefore the stepping-stones to success in a marketing profession.

SAMYUKTA KODA

samyukta.hyd@careercommunity.co.in